My Story
Rafael Zamora, Founder & Principal
About Me
I’m a San Francisco Bay Area native with over 30 years of experience as an HR Operations leader. I’ve built and scaled people programs for fast-paced startups across Silicon Valley, including five private companies, four of which I helped take public. My industry background spans AI SaaS, networking, data storage, and wireless healthcare solutions. With an entrepreneurial spirit and a passion for people and technology, I bring deep expertise in Talent Acquisition & HR operations, building high impact teams that foster productive, scalable cultures.
What sets me apart is my tactical and strategic depth of experience in technology start-up companies, focusing on everything people operations, from recruiting, compensation, employee relations, to HR tech stack implementations, and culture-building. This makes me a unique asset to founders and executive teams who need experienced HR leadership that can wear multiple hats, roll up their sleeves, and flex between individual contributor and management-level work, depending on the needs of the business. I've done this my whole career. I'm flexible and can scale hours as the business grows without requiring the need to burn a full-time headcount resource.
My Motivation
I’m a startup-tested HR and Recruiting leader on a mission to build smart, scalable people operations with urgency and heart. I thrive in fast-paced environments where I can be both strategic and hands-on to solve people's challenges that fuel growth. What excites me most is building positive, collaborative, high-performing cultures and working with great people, while leveraging technology to drive scale. Just ask my peers.
Whether I’m advising executives, hunting for top talent, or designing custom HR playbooks, I bring a “player-coach” mindset and operate with a strong sense of urgency. I'm scrappy, yet professional. I’m especially motivated by AI solutions and creating the foundational HR and recruiting systems that early-stage companies need to scale: HR tech stacks, compensation frameworks, benefits, employee relations, and training programs. I believe getting these right from the start sets companies up for long-term success.
My Style
I’m an empathetic and execution-focused partner who brings a consultative, player-coach approach to every engagement. I work with a sense of urgency and collaborate across all levels of an organization, prioritizing our employees, accountability, and follow-through. Equity and inclusion are core to how I operate. I apply a DEI view to all aspects of my work to help create workplaces where everyone can thrive.
Resourceful
While I'm an entrepreneur at heart, I come with a network of resources and contacts across all specialty areas of HR, and I can quickly insert a team to support any startup’s future growth potential.